The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1887-01-13
THE FIRST POTATO,

Iu the year 1868, during tho wa,
between France and Hanover, II
mrnber of tue French medical stafl
was tuket prisoner by tho Germans.
How he cursed bis i'll luck during II
captivity OF five years ho has hinted
at IN his memoirs. Yet ont of bis
calamity one Of tue greatest bless
lngs OF tie human race was born.
The Germans dill not waste nff; c.
tons on their French prisoners
They even fed thom, FIR the mos,
part, on certain wretched roots which
the peasants raised extensively for
their cattle. But while our medical
fiicnd-an expert Gu mist AS well AZ
doctor-growled With bis comrades
at their firu be observed that the
little roots were wholesome, not dis.
agreeable 10 the palate when one got
used TO them. aud they grew in the
most ab"udoued aud dosolate OF
soils. So it happened, years after
'ards, when the captivity was over,
aud France was iavaged by II famine
50 frightful TINT in somo provinces
the people ate grass with the cattle
to keep body and sonl tog, tber, that
DR.. Purmentier bethonght himself OF
he dispised roots which foi med his
prison fare. Purmentier was phil.
nnthropist ms well ns chemist. he
wrote treatise during those terri
bic months Of famine, calling atten
ton TO the potato rs possible snb-
stitu'e in emergencies for ordinary
articles Of food. Tue literary wits
laughed bin to scorn. II was pop
nlnr belief that the potato was poi-
sonous to mau and that it gave Lirth
10 leprosy and other hideous diseas-
es. Bat Mt that period France had a
sensible official at the head OF lis ap
rcnltulal interests. This man up.
proved of DIR Parmentiel's treatise.
aud bad it publisbed in the royal
ngi icutural records. More than this
1t the doctol y request. he conceded
him the nse of large, sandy plain
IN tho outskirts Of Paris, which had
been used for fairs and parades, az a
held Of experiment. How Pulis
shook its sides as it saw this barren,
where scarcely green thing grew,
bl'lowing mp under the doctors plow
Bat the Iangh was the other side n
Iow weeks later when sen of greens
cry displayed itself on that desolate
area. In dne time came the birth
day Of tho king, Louis NV, which
was celebrated with poump aud -four
'sii at Versailles Among the gor-
geous throng of courliers came DR.. {
Parmentier with u basket of pigmy
potatoes on his arm aud hoquet Of {
.he blossoms 10 his hand. The king /
smiled gracionsly He beard of the I
''anky philanthropist before. In |
Iced, 1t was he who bad granted the t
ise OF bis military field for the ex- /
pertinent. The queen was pleased t
% arrange some of the blossoms 10 I n
Ter hair, whereupon the courtiers Z
vent wild, and dispatched messcn.
'ers oil the region over to obtain the il
coveted blossoms for their mistress, a
q. During the corner" in the DO. p
alto blossoms which followed over L
orty dollare were paid for single n
luster. The people acquired a new t
aste, and the fortune of the potato l
vas made. Modern cultivation has "
made it what it is to-day. How the 4
world ever got along without it is a d
'uzzle, yet it's general use was al n
most an accident o
The citizens Of Montdidier, France, 8
where DR.. Parmentier was born, have I,
ecently erected a statue to his hon. II
'r.-Our Country Home. O.